Combined clock and gramophone



(No Model.)

J. A. VINCENT.

ACon/113mm CLOCK AND CRAMCPHCNE.

No. 602,490. Patented Apr. 19,1898.

NITED STATES PATENT Outrun..

JOSEPH A. VINCENT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMBINED CLOCK AND GRAMOPHONE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 602,490, dated April 19, 1898.

Application iiled February 11, 1897. Serial No. 622,895. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH A. VINCENT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Clock and Gramophone; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tov make and use the same. l

My invention relates to novel improvements in clocks7 the main object being to combine therewith a gramophone, graphophone,or phonograph which will work in unison with the clock mechanism and call out the hour or fraction thereof as the same is registered upon the dial.

My invention further consists in the novel construction and arrangement of the parts comprising the gramophone, which I prefer to use in this connection, and in the manner of controlling the same by the independent mechanism of the clock.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l illustrates a front elevation, partly in section, of a talking clock constructed in accordance with my invention; and Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2 of Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

A represents a disk formed of metal, hard rubber, or any suitable material and containing the record.

A is a shaft working in bearings b and b', formed upon the bracket B, and is provided with a small face-plate A2, against which disk A is secured by means of a thumb-screw A2.

The disk A and shaft A are rotated through the medium of a train of gearing operated by a spring-motor C, which is under the control of the clock mechanism, as more fully described hereinafter.

The stylus or needle D, which traverses the spiral groove formed upon the disk A, is held in a binding-post D', secured to a flat spring D2, mounted upon the sound-box D2, which latter is provided with the usual diaphragm 5o D1, connected to the spring D2 by a pin d2.

A tube D5 projects from one side of the sound-box and is provided with a short horn D0, the mouth of which is turned upward.

Upon the bar D1, which has bearings in the brackets B and B', is a sleeve DS, connected to the sound-box by a twisted spring` d8, which allows a slight angular movement of the sound-box and parts connected thereto independent of the movement imparted to the sleeve.

The sleeve Ds has a depending lever D0, which is caused to travel backward and forward and impart a like movement to the sounding-box and stylus by means of screws D10 and D11, the former screw being firmly threaded and adapted to slowly feed the stylus along the grooves of the record, while the latter screw is of steep pitch, causing a quick returnv of the lever D0 and parts connected therewith after the same has been carried forward to the full extent of its movement. The shifting of the lever D9 from one to the other of said screws, which causes the stylus to move into and out of engagement with the spiral grooves of the record, is accomplished in the following manner:

The bar D1, upon which the sleeve Ds is guided, is provided with a groove (Z7 for the reception of a pin or key d8, fitted to the sleeve D8. On the end of the bar D1 is a cam-plate E, provided with notches e and e, and upon the bracket B is formed a lug E', provided with a vertical hole adapted to receive a spring-actuated plunger E2, which is beveled at the end to properly enter one of notches e or e. As the lever D0 is fed forward in the direction of the arrow the pin d0,.fastened to a flat spring d10, which in turn is secured to said lever, moves in the path of the cam D12, which forces the lever DJ out of engagement with the screw D10 and into engagement with the screw D11. The plunger E2 in the meantime being depressed enters the notch E as the lever is shifted. At this point the stylus is disengaged from the spiral groove in the record. The screw D11 carries the arm D0 in the reverse direction until the pin d11 enters the path of the cam D12, when the arm D0 is again shifted and the stylus brought in contact with the spiral grooves of the record.

The screws D10 and D11 are driven by a worm F, mounted on a shaft F2, which meshes with IOO the teeth of the worin-wheels I1" and F2, scoured to the ends of the screw-shafts D10 and D11, respectively.

Motion is imparted to the vertical shaft F5 by the spring-motor C, which comprises a shaft G, upon which is secured a ratchetwheel G'. A spur-wheel Gr2 is loosely hung upon said shaft and carries a pawl g2, which works in said. ratchet.

The shaft is caused to rotate by means of a spiral spring S, which, through the medium of the ratchet-wheel G', imparts motion to the spur-wheel G2. A pinion engages the lat- Y ter, and upon the same shaft is securedla spur- Wheel G4, which meshes with a pinion G5 upon the shaft GG, the latter being provided at one end with a bevel-gear GT, which engages the bevel-pinion FL upon the shaft F3. The shaft G is also provided with a gear-wheel H, which engages a pinion H', and upon the same shaft as that which supports the pinion H is fastened a gear-wheel H2, which meshes with a pinion H3, mounted on the shaft A'.

It will be seen from the above description that motion is given to the disk containing the record, as well as to the sound-box and stylus, by the spring-motor C, through the medium of a train of gears. In order to control to some extent the speed of the spring-motor, I desire to provide a simple form of governor. The one which I have illustrated in Figs. l and 2 consists of a series of blades F5, mounted upon a central hub FG, whichis in the present instance secured to the vertical shaft F3, although it will be readily understood that a governor of this type may be secured to any rapidly-moving portion of the motor.

The starting and stopping of the motor C is preferably controlled by the shaft upon which the min nte-hand of the clock is mounted, and as the clock mechanism is of the ordinary type it has not been thought necessary to illustrate any of the details of construction. The shaft I, upon which the minute-hand of the clock is mounted, is provided with a dog I', and upon the shaft G of the motor is a plate I2, provided with a number of radial slots i2. A lever I3 is pivoted at a point One end of said lever is adapted to rest in one of the slots in the plate I, While the other is provided with an inclined cam-surface i4, which is directly in the path of the dog I'. As the shaft I revolves the dog strikes the inclined portion of the lever I3 and releases the upper end thereof from the slot in the plate I2. The motor is then free to rotate and operates the gramophone until the lever I3 engages the next slot in the plate I2,when the spring-motor is locked until the dog on the shaft controlling the minute-hand completes a revolution and is again brought into action.

I prefer to inclos'e the gramophone in a casing J, extending the full width of the clock, and I provide at the top of said casing a horn J', through which the sounds produced by the gramophone are conveyed and intensified.

I do not confine myself to this particular arrangement of the parts, as it will be readily seen that the disk may be arranged in ahori- Zontal as well as a vertical position and may be located in any convenient part of the clockcasing without departing from the spirit of my invention. The records, aside from calling out the hour, can be arranged to reproduce anything desired in music, words or songs, and, if desired, can be used for the purpose of reproducing anything in the line of advertising matter.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is*

1. A combined clock and gramophone comprising a record-disk mounted upon a rotatable plate, spring mechanism for operatiu g the same, a sound-box provided with a diaphragm and stylus which is adapted to traverse the face of the record, a screw operated by said spring mechanism for conveying t-he soundbox and stylus across the record-disk in one direction, a second screw for conveying the sound-box and stylus in the opposite direction, cams, one on each of said screws for shifting the parts carrying the sound-box and stylus out of engagement with one and into engagement with the other of said screws, the clock mechanism, a dog mounted upon a shaft of the clock mechanism, a lever controlled thereby, and a notched wheel operated upon by said lever and dog to unlock the spring mechanism of the gramophone.

2. A combined clock and gramophone comprising the clock mechanism, spring means for operating the same, a lever controlled by said clock mechanism, a record-disk mounted upon a rotatable plate, spring means for operating the same, a sound-box provided with a diaphragm and stylus which is adapted to traverse the face of the record, a screw for conveying the sound-box and stylus across the record -disk in one direction, a second screw for conveying the sound-box and stylus in the opposite direction, cams one on each of said screws for shifting the parts carrying the so und-box and stylus from one to the other of said screws and a notched plate secured to the main shaft of the spring mechanism of the gramophone and operated upon by the above-mentioned lever forlockin g said spring mechanism.

3. A combined clock and gramophone comprising a record detachably secured to a rotatable plate mounted upon a horizontal shaft, a sound-box and stylus acted upon by said record, a lever depending from said soundboX, a screw for acting upon said lever to move the sound-box and stylus in one direction, a screw acting upon said lever to move it and its connecting parts in the opposite direction, pins upon said lever, a cam upon each of said screws for acting upon said pins to shift the lever from one to the other of said screws, a spring-motor connected to said screws through a train of gearing for operating the same, and in like manner to the shaft IOO IOS

IIO

carrying the record, a disk carried by the main driving-shaft of said motor provided with a series of notches, a pivoted lever having one end adapted to the notches of said plate, the clock mechanism, a dog mounted upon the minute-hand shaft of the clock mechanism and adapted to act upon said lever, substantially as specified.

4L. A gramophone comprising a disk containing the record secured to a plate mounted upon a rotatable shaft, a sound-box and a stylus controlled thereby, a traveling support for the sound-box and stylus flexibly connected to a sleeve guided upon a horizontal bar, said sleeve having an arm depending therefrom, a screw adapted to feed the traveling support in one direction, a cam mounted upon the screw and adapted to a pin upon the ln testimony whereof l affix my signature 3o in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH A. VINCENT.

lVitnesses:

ROBERT W. LLOYD, HENRY DRUR. 

